Points of View
by Darth Stitch
Summary: Set in the universe of “Snapercup’s Baby: The As You Wish Outtakes.” HPSS Slash implied. Two stories featuring Hermione Granger and Methos of Highlander. Harry comes out to his friends in Part I. In Part II, Methos muses on his new DADA student -
1. Default Chapter

**Points of View **

**A Brief Introduction:**

Set in the universe of "Snapercup's Baby: The As You Wish Outtakes" - Points of View are two little stories featuring Hermione Granger and, of all people, Methos of Highlander. Harry comes out to his friends in Part I. In Part II, Methos surprises us with some tidbit of information about his past life in the Wizarding World and he has his own point of view on its newest young hero – Harry Potter.

**Part I**

**Hermione: On Sense and Sensibility**

**DISCLAIMERS: ** Don't own 'em, don't make any money off 'em.

**Author's Note:** Hee. This was an exercise in dialogue that got out of hand. WAY out of hand. And hey, my Hermione Muse wanted to make an appearance.

Sometimes, I think that I really shouldn't have introduced Ron to the wonders of Muggle cinema.   
  
Of course, he understood that movies were fictional and a form of theatrical entertainment. It was explaining about special effects that seriously threatened my sanity. How do you manage to explain to a wizard how Muggles did "movie magic" without actually casting any spells? How do you tell him about CGI and blue-screen and all those throwaway words they use whenever they do one of those "movie-in-the-making" specials on the telly?  
  
Somehow, I managed to figure that out without making Ron's eyes glaze over in total incomprehension the way he does when I try to explain why his potion came out wrong or why he can't figure out that particular charm or spell.   
  
I suppose it was worth it to see him gleefully go over our collection of movies on video – between myself and Mr. Weasley, we managed to set up a TV and VCR at the Burrow. Harry was surprised at me actually – he half expected me to be going on and on about our summer homework instead of "rotting away our brains at the telly." He didn't complain about it though – he'd never really been inside a movie theater (like the Dursleys would actually take him to one?) and he hardly got to watch anything on the telly too. I rather thought he'd enjoy this whole thing too.  
  
Of course, we went through Dad's collection of all those Hollywood action movies like "Indiana Jones" and "Die Hard" - the look on Harry's face every time Alan Rickman entered a scene was rather..._interesting._ Which explained why I decided to pick "Sense and Sensibility" when Ron finally ran out of action movies to watch.   
  
And as luck would have had it, we were watching that movie when Harry finally decided to come out of the closet to us, so to speak.   
  
Actually, Ginny and I had our suspicions for quite a long time now. We didn't want to confront Harry with it though – we wanted him to tell us himself in his own time. And it went without saying that we didn't dare mention this to Ron. I love that big, redheaded goof with all my heart but there are times when his tongue gets away from his brain. Honestly!   
  
"The gene pool is doomed," Ginny told me that day, heaving a great big sigh.  
  
The words were funny; the sigh sounded just a bit too sad. "I thought you were over your crush on Harry, Ginny."   
  
Ginny smiled. It was a bit wistful but I'd been in her shoes. Harry was a very easy person to fall in love with and that wasn't because of that Boy Who Lived nonsense either. "I was over the crush ages ago. Still - Harry is cute."  
  
I giggled. "Not like he'd believe _that."_ It was true, really. Harry looks in the mirror and sees messy hair, an ugly scar and equally ugly glasses. The rest of us see this rather dashing fellow with gorgeous green eyes and believe me, I've heard many of the girls express the desire to run their fingers through that messy tangle of silky black hair more than once.   
  
Of course, I'm rather partial to redheads myself but I understand the attraction. No harm in a girl looking after all, right?  
  
Ginny joined me in the laughter. "That's part of his charm. Can you imagine the hordes of girls wailing when they find out he's batting for the other team?"  
  
I snickered. "Such is life. If they're not taken, they're gay."  
  
"Oh woe is us." She put a hand to her forehead, sighing melodramatically.   
  
So here we were, enjoying the movie – Ginny and I were throwing popcorn at the screen every time Kate Winslet's Marianne showed up (honestly, how stupidly _blind_ in love can you be?) and I was again noting Harry's interesting reactions every time Alan Rickman's Colonel Brandon came onscreen. Marianne was still being foolishly besotted with that cad Willoughby when Harry finally made his announcement to us:  
  
"I'm gay."  
  
It was Ron who surprised us all. "It's about bloody time you 'fessed up, mate."  
  
We all stared at him – I'm sure we probably looked all ridiculous with our mouths agape like that. Ron, impossible prat that he is, just raised a brow. "What? I'm not dense, you know."  
  
"Who are you and what have you done with Ron Weasley?" I wanted to know, I was just so floored!  
  
"You're taking this all rather well," Harry muttered.   
  
"Look Harry, you're my best mate, y'know?" Ron said. "If you're queer, you're queer - whatever makes you happy. Just as long as you're not secretly in love with me -"  
  
Harry laughed. "Wanker."  
  
"And he has such a high opinion of himself," Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"Oi!" Ron protested. "I'm not so bad-looking, am I? I'm just not bent that way, is all I'm saying."  
  
"All right, all right," Harry said, still laughing. "No, Ron, I'm not secretly lusting after you. You're not my type."  
  
"Oh good," I said then, crossing my arms, although I wasn't able to keep the amusement out of my voice. "You'll have me to answer to if you did."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes. "Far be it for me to step in on True Love - which was bloody obvious since we developed hormones."  
  
I blushed. Well, he had a point – it did take Ron and I long enough to realize what we felt for each other. I stole a look at my boyfriend whose ears were rather suspiciously red too.  
  
"Seriously, Harry," Ginny said, throwing an arm over his shoulders and hugging him. "It's all right with us, you know?"  
  
"Amen to that," I put in. Then, I had a truly evil idea. "So if Ron's not your type, Harry-my-lad, who is?"  
  
He blushed but I caught how he stole a glance at the screen, which was currently showing Colonel Brandon. I did understand Harry's interest in Mr. Rickman's extraordinary skill in acting...among other things, that is.   
  
"Just please don't tell me it runs to blonde, sneering and sexy," Ginny pleaded. "I mean, Draco Malfoy may be cute but he's a bloody berk, you know?"  
  
Oh dear. I braced myself for my boyfriend's inevitable reaction.  
  
"Gin!" Ron was outraged. "How can you say Malfoy is 'cute'?"  
  
Ginny was unfazed. "Malfoy IS a wanker and a half. But he's a cute wanker and a half. Unfortunately. That's all I'm saying."  
  
"She has a point," I said reasonably, putting on my best innocent look.   
  
"HERMIONE!" Ron all but wailed.  
  
"But I prefer redheads and freckles anyway," I continued angelically. Payback, my love, is sweet.   
  
Harry was all but howling with laughter.  
  
"But we're getting off the subject," Ginny, whose capacity for absolute evil exceeds the twins'. "The subject being who Harry's type is."  
  
"Not redheads and freckles," Harry chortled.  
  
Ron heaved a sigh of relief and got twhapped by an expertly aimed pillow from his best friend.  
  
"Not silvery blonde and a wanker either," Ginny confirmed.  
  
"He is cute though..." Harry mused.  
  
"HARRY!" Ron was now pure Weasley outrage. "You're as bad as Ginny here!"  
  
"He's a wanker and a bloody prat," Harry assured him. "But it's like what Gin says - he's a cute wanker and bloody prat. We're just looking - is all m'saying. No harm in that, right?"  
  
"Mm-hmm," Ginny agreed.   
  
"Nice arse too," I chimed in, thoroughly enjoying the outraged look on my boyfriend's face. "Don't worry, love – yours is better."  
  
"Nah, Snape's is _much_ better." Harry asserted.  
  
There was dead silence.   
  
And then:   
  
"SNAPE?!" Ron choked.   
  
I arched a brow. "Harry James Potter, since when have you been checking out Snape's arse?"  
  
"What? It's a fine arse," He looked innocent. Angelic, even. Harry was very good at that. "When it's not hidden by all those flowing robes, as good as they look on him."  
  
"All right, that's it," Ron decided. He pointed his wand at Harry. "Who are you and what have you done with my mate Harry?"  
  
"Well....Snape is rather dashing when he cleans up." Leave it to Ginny to add even more fuel to the fire, looking rather wicked. "The Slytherin girls weren't the only ones sighing over him last Yule ball."  
  
"Gin!" Ron howled. "First Draco and now Snape?"  
  
"And there's that voice…." Ginny sighed dreamily. "Even when he's just saying that he's taking points away from Gryffindor, I want to swoon away."  
  
Ginny Weasley, you are an evil, evil woman, I thought, looking at Harry's face. It said everything.   
  
"True," Harry murmured. "Not fair, isn't it?"  
  
"He's a PRAT!" Ron squawked. "Am I the only sane person in this group?"  
  
"We're not denying he's a prat, Ron," Harry said levelly. "And yes, he does clean up fine and his voice has me in knots every time I hear it. And he's a snarky, grouchy, unpredictable bastard. But I love the snarky, grouchy, unpredictable bastard, so there."   
  
"You're barking," Ron stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. Ginny and I looked at each other...and well, why was it that neither of us seemed really surprised about Harry and Snape?   
  
"Yeah. Hopelessly, utterly, completely in love. That's me. Pathetic, isn't it?" The admission was calm, matter-of-fact and typically Harry. The misery in his eyes was typically Harry too.   
  
"Maybe it's a spell," My boyfriend was desperately clutching at his rapidly sinking ship on the River Denial. "I bet Malfoy hexed you – the bloody git would love to humiliate you like this."  
  
"It's not a spell," Harry said quietly. "It's not a hex. I've been working with Snape for quite some time now...he's not just this greasy git, all right?" He looked away. "He's more. He's far more than we ever thought he was. And no one ever sees...."  
  
"Oh Harry," This from Ginny, whose eyes were suspiciously bright.   
  
"It's a ridiculous teenage crush, that's what it is," Ron decided. "We'll laugh about it when we're old and gray. Use the information to blackmail you, even."  
  
"Ha-bloody-ha," Harry said sourly. "I wish it was just a crush, you know? Then maybe it would've gone away right about the next time I bollicksed up in Potions class and he'd dressed me down with the Slytherins snickering AGAIN!"  
  
"Harry," I began tentatively, not wanting to say it but knowing that this had to be done anyway. "He's a professor and Hogwarts does not allow -"  
  
"Eww…. Hermione, love, don't even go there!" Ron looked green.   
  
Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm in love but I haven't gone completely stupid. And let's just be clear – he doesn't bloody know, all right? In fact, he'd probably think I was off my rocker too."  
  
"Nice to know that you haven't completely lost your marbles, mate," Ron put in. I elbowed him sharply, which earned me an aggrieved "Oi!" from my hopeless boyfriend.   
  
Harry sighed. "Let's just watch the movie, all right?" He determinedly turned his attention to the telly, after grabbing a rather large handful of popcorn. Colonel Brandon was once again onscreen, having a rather serious chat with Elinor. "That Alan Rickman bloke's rather good, isn't he?"  
  
"Lovely voice," Ginny chimed in, accepting Harry's decision to change the subject. "Absolutely dashing, too."  
  
"I don't know," Ron frowned. "He looks a bit too familiar to me…"  
  
"Wish Marianne would dump that Willoughby prat and get together with the Colonel instead," Harry grumbled.   
  
"He's too old for her, isn't he?" Ron asked.   
  
"Does it really matter, when he's the one who really loves her?" Ginny pointed out.   
  
"I rather think," I said carefully, "that Marianne still has a bit of growing up to do before she'll finally get together with the good Colonel."  
  
"I suppose she does at that," Harry agreed. "Meet him on equal ground, right? So he doesn't think of her as just a child anymore."  
  
I nodded.  
  
"But she is going to end up with him, isn't she? Never read the book, you know."  
  
"Do you really want me to spoil the ending, Harry?"  
  
"Happily ever after," Harry decided. He grabbed another handful of popcorn. "That's the way it should end."  
  
"Best ending there is," Ginny said.   
  
We continued watching the movie in silence for a few minutes. And then:  
  
"Just a few more months," Harry said softly. "Maybe a year."  
  
"Yes." There was nothing more any of us could say.   
  
At least, that was what I thought.   
  
"I'm going to pretend that you lot weren't really talking about Harry and Snape right now," Ron said. "Honestly, I'm really not as dense as you think I am!"  
  
We all laughed and Harry hit him again with the pillow. Ron didn't complain very much when I offered to kiss it better, never mind Ginny making gagging noises in the background. Harry just smiled at us indulgently, with this wistful light in his eyes.   
  
I love Ron, I really do.   
  
I only hope Harry will finally be just as lucky.   
  
- end part I - 


	2. Methos: The Once and Future

**Points of View**

**Part II**

**Methos: The Once And Future...**

**DISCLAIMERS: **Yes, this IS Methos of Highlander. Yes, this is a crossover. And no, he's not mine. Neither is the rest of the Potterverse. Hee.

_Adam Pierson, Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, College of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Oxford_   
  
That was what it said on the class cards and on his office door - a name he'd used before in what seemed like a very distant lifetime ago. But this time, it was attached to a very different profession - a little more exotic than being a Watcher of Immortals or being a Professor of Linguistics.   
  
But it wasn't as if he'd never been a wizard before.   
  
And he rather liked the name "Adam Pierson." It was a nice, perfectly ordinary name that inspired no awe and high expectations of wisdom and grandeur, unlike "Methos, the Oldest Immortal." Or cries of terror and promises of retribution and divine punishment, like "Death of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."  
  
He'd much rather be Adam Pierson, just another guy (or in this case, wizard), trying to make his way in the big bad world. A name that held no special earthshaking significance, unlike "Duncan Macleod of the Clan Macleod, Heroic Highlander, the Man Most Likely to Claim the Immortals' Prize."  
  
Or "Harry James Potter, the Boy Who Lived and the Man Who Defeated Voldemort."  
  
The man who currently called himself "Adam Pierson" came back to the Wizarding World after all the troubles with the so-called Dark Lord Voldemort were over. A masterpiece of timing, he congratulated himself, as he managed to escape the possibility, however slight, of being snagged into the troubles of the Wizarding World. Hell, he went back there after long centuries of living in what the Wizards called "the Muggle world" to _get away_ from trouble.   
  
He'd had quite enough of trouble himself as an Immortal caught up in the ongoing drama that was the Heroic Life and Adventures of one Duncan Macleod of the Clan Macleod. One Duncan Macleod in a lifetime was enough, he told himself sternly, locking away the old painful memories  
  
(heartbreak)  
  
of that time in the deepest, darkest vaults of his memories.   
  
So when he saw the name "Harry James Potter" listed down as one of his students, he was, quite frankly, expecting another Duncan Macleod. Defeating a Dark Wizard at the tender age of seventeen, the reputation that wizards of the House Gryffindor from Hogwarts School had for bravery, nobility and loyalty....hell, Adam Pierson was definitely picturing a young man built along the same heroic lines as the notorious Highlander.   
  
He knew heroes - he'd had a long experience with them. Then again, he'd had a long experience with practically everything, considering who and what he really was. However, he was quite pleasantly surprised to meet a quiet, unassuming young man with terribly messy hair and brilliant green eyes that held the slightest hint of mischief even as he soberly and sensibly answered Professor Pierson's questions.   
  
Perhaps not quite a "knight-in-shining-armor" after all, Professor Pierson decided. A rather reluctant kind of hero, who amazingly enough, had not let the fame and adulation get to his head. Mr. Harry Potter was just another guy who'd found himself in a rather bad situation and had done the best he could.   
  
Much like himself, actually.   
  
And in this class, Harry was just another student, wanting to finish his studies and work afterwards. He'd confided to his Professor that he rather fancied teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts himself at his old school, although offers to play for the various professional Quidditch teams were pouring in nearly every day.   
  
"I just don't want to chase a Snitch for the rest of my life," Harry had said.  
  
"As opposed to bringing down any new Dark Lords that might pop up?" his Professor asked wryly.   
  
Harry snorted. "One Dark Lord in one lifetime is quite enough, thanks very much. I'd rather not play the hero again."  
  
"But you heroes tend to attract that sort of thing all the time, you realize," his Professor pointed out. "What will you do, Mr. Potter, if the opportunity should rise again?"  
  
"I'll think about it if or when it happens." The gaze that met the Immortal's eyes was one that was rather familiar. It was the same look that greeted him every time he looked at himself in the mirror each morning. Old, full of secrets, quietly determined. Oddly disconcerting, considering that Harry was practically an infant compared to himself.   
  
"Right now," Harry had told him. "I just want to live. And to learn as much as I can. Fighting's just going to be for another day, when it comes."  
  
The Professor had quite liked that answer. And it was that point that he realized young Harry was far more like another young hero he'd known a long time ago than Duncan Macleod. That young man had been one of his most beloved students, who'd also found himself an unlikely hero and the bearer of an Enchanted Sword that he alone could draw from the stone in which it had been set, thus proclaiming himself to be the heir to the throne.   
  
Arthur had done the best he could, living, learning and fighting on that other day....until the very end, when he'd had to fight that one last battle he had to face.   
  
Arthur's teacher missed him and was quite proud of his student. The role of teacher was one that he rather enjoyed. While he didn't claim to be any sort of wise sage, he much preferred teaching than to sowing death and destruction. And he rather cherished the name that he had borne while he was Arthur's teacher. The trouble was, having wizards and witches alike swear by it ("Merlin's beard" indeed) and having the almost godlike reputation that went with it (honestly, he was, after all, still "just a guy") kept him from assuming it again when he went back to the Wizarding World.   
  
But Harry already had his Merlin - that would be Albus Dumbledore - and if he was very lucky, his Great Adventure was already over and he could get down to the business of simply living happily ever after. And that was something Professor Pierson could teach him and enjoy in the doing.   
  
Living happily ever after was, after all, much more difficult, than defeating a Dark Wizard. And Harry had not even yet found his One True Love - which came as a surprise to Professor Pierson. Weren't heroes supposed to meet their One True Love on the course of their respective quests? Hell, teenage hormones alone should have guaranteed Harry Potter at least some serious crushes while he was at school.   
Although Professor Pierson had his suspicions, what with the way Harry looked whenever the subject of his "greasy git of a former Potions teacher" came up.   
  
Really, "greasy git" shouldn't sound like a bloody endearment.   
  
The man who was Methos, Death, Merlin, Adam Pierson and a host of other names smiled.   
  
Oh, this turn at being a wizard looked very interesting. Very interesting indeed.  
  
-end- 

A/N: I just could NOT resist casting Methos in this role. Absolutely couldn't. Hey, the Really Old Guy wanted to come in and play, you know….


End file.
